Ignaz Pleyel
Six Duets “op. 23” for two Violins
The “Six Duos concertans”, which are today known under the opus number 23, feature wonderful instrumental music by Ignaz Pleyel. In contrast to other works to which the composer assigned the attribute “easy”, the pieces from op. 23 are designated “concertante”. They are indeed more demanding in terms of execution, but at the same time appealing works from the quill of the then extremely popular Pleyel, works that are eminently usable in music lessons and recitals. The uniformly two-movement compositions bring together great melodic richness and eclectic forms in their colourful mixture of sonata movements, rondos, minuets and variations. Like all Urtext editions of instrumental music from Henle, this edition is also comfortably equipped: an unmarked performance score is supplemented by two enclosed parts whose markings stem from Evelyne Grüb-Trauer’s many years of teaching experience. The first Urtext edition of these popular duets!
About the Composer
Ignaz Pleyel
A composer, piano builder, and music publisher. With his 41 symphonies, around 80 string quartets, six symphonies concertantes, piano trios, and two operas (among other works) he left behind an extensive oeuvre. During his lifetime he made a name for himself as a music publisher, while the innovative instruments of the Pleyel piano manufacturing company were valued by figures such as Chopin and Rossini.
| 1757 | Born in Ruppersthal near Vienna on June 18. He received his earliest musical education in Vienna from Johann Baptist Vanhal. |
| around 1772 | Count Ladislaus Erdődy provides financial patronage for five years of study with Joseph Haydn, as well as for lodging in Haydn’s home. An amicable relationship develops between Haydn and Pleyel. |
| around 1780 | He tours through Italy. For King Ferdinand IV of Naples he composes works for lira organizzata. |
| 1785 | On May 30, his opera “Ifigenia in Aulide” is premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He becomes music director at Strasbourg Cathedral. |
| 1787–95 | Most of his works are composed in Strasbourg. With the music director of the Temple Neuf, Johann Philipp Schönfeld, he inaugurates the Concerts Pleyel-Schönfeld. |
| 1791–92 | Following the invitation of Wilhelm Cramer to go to London, he becomes director of the Professional Concerts there. This enables performance of twelve of his own symphonies. |
| after 1796 | He founds a music publishing house in Paris with his brother-in-law Jean-Daniel Schäffer, and publishes some 4,000 works by important contemporaries such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, and Muzio Clementi. |
| 1807 | He founds the piano manufacturer Pleyel et Cie. |
| 1824 | His son Camille takes over the company. |
| 1831 | Dies in Paris on November 14. |
About the Authors
Norbert Gertsch (Editor)
Dr. Norbert Gertsch, born in 1967 in Rheinkamp/Moers, studied piano solo at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and read musicology and philosophy at the Paris Lodron University in Salzburg and the Ruperto Carola University Heidelberg on a scholarship from the “Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”. In 1996 he wrote his doctoral thesis on Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa solemnis (as part of the New Complete Edition) under Ludwig Finscher.
In the following year, he began to work at G. Henle Publishers, initially as an editor for electronic publishing. After working on a two-year project (1999–2000) sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG) preparing a new Beethoven Catalogue of Works, he became a scholarly editor at G. Henle Publishers. In 2003 he became Editor-in-Chief, in 2009 Deputy Managing Director and Head of Publishing. As of 1 January 2024, the Executive Board of the Günter Henle Foundation has appointed Dr. Norbert Gertsch, as the new managing director, succeeding Dr. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert.
Gertsch has published many Urtext editions for G. Henle Publishers, including volumes for a new edition of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas together with Murray Perahia.
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